Euan Dunn, fisheries expert with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said: "The idea of calling for an increase in catches to reduce discards is so counter-productive.

"Massive efforts now have to be made to help the fragile 2005 year class survive to breed and fuel real recovery in the cod stock.

"The EU ministers\’ focus now needs to be totally on how to prevent these discardable fish being caught in the first place, rather than giving the industry a licence to catch more. Responsible fishermen know this, but you can\’t wake a man who\’s pretending to be asleep."

All of them, entirely crazed.

Fisheries are not the most complex of problems. They\’re a simple application of the Commons Problem. One which is, as we know, solved by apportioning property rights. Are they, in the face of this problem, suggesting the apportioning of property rights? No, they\’re not, ergo they are crazed loons, all of them, the Commissioner, the Government, Greenpeace and the fishermen themselves.

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2 comments on “Fisheries Again”

“Euan Dunn, fisheries expert with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said: “The idea of calling for an increase in catches to reduce discards is so counter-productive…..The EU ministers’ focus now needs to be totally on how to prevent these discardable fish being caught in the first place, rather than giving the industry a licence to catch more…”

Ah, a fisheries expert who works for a bird protection society. Clearly someone to listen to…

No-one’s really calling for an increase in catches, they are already catching them as a ‘bycatch’ of what they are fishing for (plaice, prawns, etc). They just want to be allowed to land and sell the fish they have already caught & will have to throw back (dead) anyway!

The quotas are a form of property rights surely? (A fisherman has the right to catch x tonnes of cod, etc.) I think the problem is over-allocation of property rights coupled with poor enforcement by some authorities.

Tim adds: They’re not transferable (I’ve got some cod, you’ve got some cod quota, let’s do a deal) nor are they long term.